Kwintessential's Blog

News, views and articles about the business world we work in focusing on Translation (t9n), Localization (#l10n), Internationalisation #(i18n) and Globalisation #(g11n). Why not search with a keyword and see what we've published, or scroll down for the latest blogs?

Marketers, SEOs and other stakeholders in online marketing are always looking for new means and ways of boosting their performance. Although new tricks of the trade are always evolving, there is one that I feel is not being exploited enough – using l

Did you know that Arabic is the fifth-most spoken language in the world? Impressively the online Arabic speaking population now surpasses Russian, French and German, according to research by Common Sense Advisory, a market research company specialisi

By now, almost everyone is aware of the fact that machine translation does not always result in accurate translations. The free language-learning app Duolingo, however, can be used to construct translations based on crowd-sourcing, which, according t

You’ve come to the right place. The competition can be tough – there’s no doubt about that. Translation companies receive a high volume of applications from freelancers every week. The standard is high, the competition is fierce, and the need to make your application stand out is greater than ever.So, we thought we'd provide you with some guidelines. Here are our 5 key tips on how to make your application to a translation agency shine.

The diversity within the langauges of the world is, in a word, glorious. Neighbouring countries can have completely different phrases, terms and slangwords for the same concept, with no visible correlation. In particular, idioms vary hugely from language to language. In English, we can be green with envy, we might see red, or we could be feeling a bit blue. But uttering those phrases in another language might earn you some strange looks.

Understanding a country's past helps you understand its present. XX Kathinka gives her viewpoint on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; a physical and symbolic wall that shaped the Cold War and today still influences German culture.

Would you drink fermented mare’s milk with your new potential Mongolian business partners to seal a deal? Or would you politely decline? The answer may come down to the strength of your stomach or your awareness of local etiquette.

Working with people from different cultures is becoming increasingly more common; however it can also give rise to challenges. Thankfully, Erin Meyer has recently published a book that provides a framework on how different cultures across the globe view communication at work.

Traditionally, Japanese video games were only intended for players in the country itself. Now that gamers are broadening their scope, more games make it to the international market. However, as the Japanese culture is very different to that of Europe and the US, localization is in order.

As Chinese consumers have more and more money to spend, they expect more from the hotels they visit – inside their own country and abroad. Hotel chains can thus seriously benefit from localization efforts.

Films have had many languages designed especially for them. Some have been ignored and been lost in history whereas others are used today by diehard fans and have dictionaries and translators online. Here are some of the more popular that are used amongst fans.

Video streaming website Viki has recently launched a new programme to help keep endangered languages from disappearing. By having their users translate the shows they stream, the company hopes to aid language preservation.

Linguists have long been interested in the origin of language. How did languages evolve? And what did the very first languages spoken on earth sound like? Linguist Gretchen McCulloch is hoping to give you some answers!

When you are a top simultaneous interpreter, you basically deal with world leaders on a daily basis. Three interpreters give a little insight in what it is like to interpret for diplomats and presidents.

Marketers, SEOs and other stakeholders in online marketing are always looking for new means and ways of boosting their performance. Although new tricks of the trade are always evolving, there is one that I feel is not being exploited enough – using language translation to re-package and promote content.